"Sam," approached us during the break at our presentation to the annual meeting of The Florida Bar. Our topic for the three hour program was "Keeping Good Lawyers: Professional/Ethical Practices to Create Career Satisfaction."

"It's too late for me," Sam told us. "I'm leaving law. I've accepted a job with a venture capital firm. But I wish you had shared this knowledge with the partners in the two firms I tried working with before I decided to leave the profession. It could have made a difference."

Sam's potential to be a highly successful lawyer became quickly apparent as he told us his employment history. He'd been hired out of a top law school and worked two years for a large, national firm in their venture capital group. Sam's wife wanted his help at home and Sam wanted to be there with his young son. The long hours he'd had to work at the big firm weren't an attractive option.

Sam tried a smaller firm next. He liked the firm. But one of the three partners in his group was divorced and the other had been married three times. The third partner would literally throw work at associates, accompanied by a sneer. Sam said he looked ahead of him and could see that these partners did not have the kind of life he wanted when he reached their stage of practice. When a "better alternative," came his way, Sam resigned.

"Erica," another young lawyer attending one of our presentations, told us, "I'm a Gen Xer. We resent being told we're not loyal. We are very loyal and very hardworking. But you have to earn our loyalty. Are law firms trying to do that?"

In response, "Jack," a lawyer in practice over 20 years and partner in a large firm said, "When I was a young lawyer, you gave loyalty to your firm freely. We didn't ask the firm to prove itself worthy. And good feedback was getting more work. That was good enough for us and it's good enough for you." Erica wasn't persuaded. And neither was Jack. Lack of common ground will cause other Gen Xers in Jack's firm to leave and cost Jack's firm profits. Because Xers are the only available talent pool Jack has to choose from, Jack is the one who must change.

This basic difference in working style must be bridged by good management. Law firms can be excellent places to work and most have many resources to offer lawyers. Gen Xers are waiting for firm leaders to tell them and show them, on a voluntary and regular basis, what those reasons are.

Managing Generation X lawyers, those lawyers who began to join law firms in 1988 and will continue to fill associate ranks until 2006, is a challenge for most firms because Xers have many options.

Many Xers have made substantial sums of money by breaking rules and doing things their own way. Xers are willing to take risks with their careers and to make unconventional choices. The Providence Business News reported that 80 percent of Americans trying to start their own businesses today are Gen Xers between the ages of 18 and 34. Xers can put their considerable talents to work in law firms, but they must be encouraged and enticed to do so.

The reasons Xers give for moving on: impatience with outmoded business practices, frustration with inflexibility, lack of challenge in the work, dissatisfaction with their current jobs, a belief that "life is too short for this," and the lack of desire to live the lives they believe law firm partners they observe are living.

In our seminars, we ask lawyers to quickly jot down three things they like about their current practice. Then we ask them whether and how often they share those pleasures with other lawyers. Usually, lawyers are completely unable to think of three things they like about their practices. And rarely does any lawyer say he's shared his the reasons for his job satisfaction with junior lawyers in the firm. When Gen Xers only hear the negative comments about working long hours, demanding clients, missed family outings, poor collections, low profits, unprofessional behavior of opposing counsel or other colleagues, from firm leaders, they conclude there must be nothing positive to say. It's a short jump from "nothing positive" to "no loyalty" on both sides.

Xers are looking for a team where they can make a meaningful contribution and they want sufficient access to information. Xers seek entrepreneurship, defined as room in the work to define problems, develop solutions at their own pace, and produce their own results. Xers crave personal attention, mentoring and personal loyalty. And they seek the ability to monitor and control the success rate of their performance, work status and return on their investment of time and energy in your firm.

Xers are demonstrating daily that they will not sacrifice themselves for the organization, even for a few years. Xers feel the practice has a responsibility to its lawyers and expect the practice to deliver.

Law firm partners bemoan the "entitlement mentality" of Xers, but they should work with it instead. The most successful firms treat all their lawyers like highly valued clients. Xers are entitled to an exciting, fulfilling practice. All lawyers are. Figure out how to deliver it. Everyone will benefit. PeopleWealth can assist your Professional Development staff on a consulting basis to communicate effectively with lawyers and to help lawyers design and build successful careers. Visit our web site at www.PeopleWealth.com, contact our office, or e-mail us: info@PeopleWealth.com İPeopleWealth July 2000